The Greek Crisis : The Crisis

In 1999, ten European nations joined together to create an economic and monetary union known as the Eurozone. Countries, such as Germany, have thrived with the euro but nations, like Greece, have deteriorated since its adoption of the euro in 2001. The Eurozone was created in 1999 and currently consists of eighteen European nations united under the European Central Bank and all use the euro. The Eurozone has a one point six percent inflation rate and an eleven point six percent unemployment rate in 2014. Greece joined the Eurozone in 2001 and was the poorest European Union member at the time with a two point six percent inflation rate3 (James, 2000). Greece had a long economic history before joining the Eurozone. The economy flourished from 1960 to 1970 with low inflation and modernization and industrialization occurring. The market crash in the late 1970’s led Greece into a state of recession that the nation is still struggling with. Military failures, the PASOK party and the introduction of the euro have further tarnished Greece’s economic stability. The nation struggles with lack of competitiveness, high deficit, and inflation. Greece has many options like bailouts, rescue packages, and PPP to help dig it out of this recession. The best option is to abandon the Eurozone and go back to the drachma. Greece’s inflation and deficit are increasing more and more and loans and bailouts have not worked in the past. Leaving the Eurozone will allow Greece to restructure and rebuild

The economic crisis of 2008 in New York had ripple effects around the world, causing deep structural problems within the European Union to crumble the economies of several countries. These countries, known as the PIGS, are made up of Portugal, Ireland, Greece, and Spain, and collectively hold most of the sovereign debt problems of the European Union. After fast growth early in the decade, these countries were spending too much money and not securing their own banking sectors with enough capital. Soon, the debt the PIGS owed caused massive problems throughout the EU, and Germany and France had to come to the rescue of these poorly managed countries. (Greek Crisis Timeline, 1) Now, in 2012, the issue has yet to be fully resolved. Greece is still sinking, and a massive bailout for Greece's banks is required. The debate is whether Germany should continue bailing out Greece and collecting interest on its loans, or whether Greece should try to separate itself from the broader European Union, in an attempt to manage its own finances and declare bankruptcy in order to save itself from crippling interest payments. Each path offers an escape from the present situation that Greece finds itself in, but only the path of bailout results in a harmonious European Union. If Greece fragments off from the EU, then the entire union is weakened as a result. I believe that Greece should accept the terms of the bailout that Germany has provided, and should undergo several years

Over the 15 years the German has been widely viewed as the economic catalyst and stabilizer for its fellow European Union states. Even following the Financial Crisis in 2008, the German economy was able to bounce back quicker than neighboring Eurozone states the source of German success points to a high export led growth economy with a competitive manufacturing sector, lower unemployment, balanced budget, and low costs to borrow. With most economic indicators pointing to strong future growth, it remains to be seen whether a spillover effect occurs to the rest of the EU. Despite a number of reforms, EU countries continue to suffer due to lack of global competitiveness. In dire straits, Greece continues to leverage the support of the European Central Bank and Eurozone states to avoid another financial collapse. In support of Greece, Germany itself lent the country €56 billion, however Germany has begun to lose patience over Greece’s attempts to renegotiate terms of its bailout. As the German economy has persevered through economic turmoil, while Eurozone has struggled, Germany continues to be a shining light of prosperity in the European Union.

In 1992, twelve countries came together and signed the Maastricht Treaty creating the European Union (Krajewska, 2014, pp. 6-25). The last obstacle that the EU had to face was the different currencies of each country, therefore a decade later on January 1, 1999 the Euro was created. Many countries that adopted the new currency fell within the Euro Area. Each country had to discontinue their old currency and the monetary policies giving control the newly formed European Central Bank (ECB), but each separate country still had their own fiscal policies one of the key reasons for the current debt crisis (Krajewska, 2014, pp. 6-25). The union of multiple countries into a central body seemed to be a wise choice for greater economic growth, but the failure from one country is a failure for all.

To Greece, the potential idea of entering the Eurozone was one that was too tempting. A key benefit would be the reduction of inflation rates in the short term. “By joining a monetary union with a credible anchor country or set of countries, a client country eliminates the inflation bias arising from time inconsistency in monetary policy” (Alesina & Barro, 2002). The inflation rate falls to that of the lowest member nation - representative of the credibility and reputation of the German banks and the entire OCA. Hence, a country such as Greece, which lacked the regulation and financial supervision, jumped at the opportunity of sharing the same credible status Germany worked hard to maintain.

On the first of January 2002, history 's largest currency changeover occurred. The changeover was a challenge of unseen proportions involving banking sectors, retailing companies and the overall public of the Eurozone. So how did this politically sound concept result in what can only be described as widespread economic turmoil? Of the member states, Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain (PIIGS), have been the most condemned for their actions in the run-up to the crisis. Five years on, there are continued discussions of a possible exit of Greece from the Eurozone or 'Grexit, ' bringing into question the true stability of a single currency

It’s no secret that Greece is in quite a predicament. The country is currently in the midst of a crisis that reaches not just all parts of Greek society but a global stage as well. Is Greece at the point of no return, will they end up defaulting on their massive debts from combined lenders, breaking away from the European Union (EU) and the singular monetary system of the Euro? While many people think that is the way to go for Greece, the government could also find solace in the examples of other EU countries. By looking at how these countries were in the same situation as Greece yet have managed to make the necessary spending cuts and social reforms, and in doing so have regained control. This paper, provided will be an overview of the

According to Cia.com, Greece has a capitalist economy with a public sector, representing about 40% of GDP and with per capita GDP about two-thirds that of the leading euro-zone economies. Tourism provides 18% of GDP. However, immigrants make up nearly one-fifth of the work force, mainly in agricultural and unskilled jobs. Greece is a major beneficiary of EU aid, equal to about 3.3% of annual GDP.

The Greece debt problem arose in the year 2009. It is considered as the first sovereign debt problem that has ever arisen in the Eurozone. The main contributing factors to this problem included the weak Greece economy, the long period of Recession and the crisis in confidence among its governmental leaders. Later that year the country was believed to be in a situation where it was not able to meet its debt obligations. This was after the country announced that it had been understating its deficit figures for many years. This action saw Greece shut out from borrowing any funds in the financial market. This forced the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and the European Central Bank to be able to issue the first and second bailouts in Greece. Greece, however, failed to be able to repay back their debts due to many social, political and economic factors that surrounded the country. The country was once again in a state of bankruptcy. The Eurozone had to be able to intervene to be able to help the country and on July 13, 2015, the country was issued the third bailout but on very strict and precise conditions.

The terrible internal economies control. The countries in euro area, especially Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain lost their control over the domestic financial situation. Specifically, Greece had long standing financial problems. The government spent largely on the social welfare, and had a great number of public servants who had extremely generous wage and pension benefits. Besides, the government had little control over its budget deficit, leading a long standing financial budget overrun. In Ireland, the estate bubble greatly destroyed government tax income and consumption power of public. Portugal’s lasting recruitment policies led to a great number of redundant public servants. The Italian economy suffered from the high unemployment rate and high tax rate, and had a slow growth in recent years.

As a result of the global financial distress, the GDP growth rate dropped to -4.3% and caused the recession in Greece, and similarly in the whole Eurozone. Although other European countries succeeded in limiting the economic damages, Greece’s austerity policies and debit crisis protracted the economic downturn wherein the GDP growth rate bottomed at -9% in 2011 (Fig.2).

Two bailouts later, with the third quickly approaching, Greece has shown the European Union that its austerity measures are not a viable or sustainable option for debt relief. With the spiraling decline of investor confidence in an economy severely trapped by debt, Greece has been under threat of being dismissed from the European Union. As of July 14, 2015, Greece’s third European Union bailout was left just out of arms reach until the nation follows through with, what has been termed ‘Draconian,’ reforms aimed at minimalizing Greece’s debt. Although Greece makes up just 2% of the European Union population, its weighted economy and potential impact on the global economy is on everyone’s mind.

The Greek debt crisis has been an ongoing problem officially beginning in 2009, but later discovered to have begun in the 1990’s, and what began as a national disaster has quickly spread to become a worldwide catastrophe. The steady income of many Greeks has declined, levels of unemployment have increased – to the highest in the EU - Elections and resignations of politicians have altered the country 's political landscape radically, the Greek parliament has passed many austerity

In 2008 Greece was not influenced by the crisis but later in 2009 the country fell into recession and the financial markets exerted pressure, which made the economy being vulnerable. At the beginning of the sovereign debt crisis, the budget deficit of Greece was erected at 13.6% from 12.7% (Eurostat, Euroindicators, 22/2010, 22 April 2010) and the external debt at 127% of the GDP (Eurostat, Euroindicators, 60/2011, 26 April 2011). In order to to deter a default on its sovereign debts, the government of Greece agreed on a loan by Eurozone states and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The loan agreement was 80 billion € from Eurozone states and 30 billion € from IMF. The agreement was between the Greek government and the European Commission (EC), the European Central Bank (ECB) and IMF (the ‘Troika’), in which they agreed that the EC, ECB and IMF had to prepare a program for Greek economy. The Ministry of Finance in cooperation with the ‘Troika’ prepared a program called ‘Memorandum of economic Policy and Financial Policies; (MEFP) and the ‘Memorandum on Specific Economic Policy Conditionality’ (MSEPC)(The Memoranda). The MEFP had to do with the fiscal reformations and income policies that Greece had to undertake. The Memoranda was connected with the Act 3845/2010 on ‘Measures for the Implementation of the support mechanism for the Greek economy by the Eurozone Member states and the International Monetary Fund’ and the Greek Parliament enacted into law on 5 May 2010. The

To start off, Europe (as a political entity) is in a major economic crisis. The IMF (International Monetary Fund) was set up after World War Two in order to rebuild Europe and other countries of the world. The eurozone and Greece have been at a gridlock since the Greek economy has dropped so significantly. As stated in the article, (paraphrasing here) the eurozone will only give aid to Greece if the IMF agrees to give them funds as well (pushed by several countries in the European Union). The IMF is refusing to help bail out Greece any further until it is certain that Greece will uphold the terms of the bond agreements. In February, both the IMF and the eurozone agreed to subject Greece to more measures to ensure that Greece meets its